If working at MS, where to live? How bad, really, are clouds? (Seattle: real estate, apartments)

[jenlion]

My husband has been offered a job at Microsoft, and we're trying to decide if we should consider moving there. We live in Dallas and know very little about the area.

I've seen some posts debating living in Seattle vs living "east side". Looks like living in Seattle itself is bad if you hate a commute (we do). So, where would a family (we have a 7-month-old, and maybe a couple more over the next few years) look for a home with a short commute to MS?

I'm concerned about the weather. We had a tropical storm sit on top of us for a couple of weeks and my husband wasn't so cheerful by the end of it. I've read that Seattle actually gets less rainfall than Houston, but that that the real problem is that it is cloudy non-stop for months on end. How do people deal with that? Is it a problem for many people? He has another offer in Boston, and we may take it, despite being for a little less $$, just because it is sunnier there!

If we do get serious about WA, can anyone suggest practical areas to live in? I keep reading Redmond, Belleveue, Issaquah, and a few others -- some people love one over another, others say "there's no difference". We'd want a house with around 2000 sq feet, 2 baths, and 4 beds (or 3 and an office), that kind of thing. Place we can nicely walk the dogs and a stroller. Proximity to walking trails, woods, etc would be wonderful (are those things close to towns?).

Any suggestions helpful, I can punch "redmond" or "bellevue" into remax.com but I don't even know where to look, seriously. Short drive is essential, as is the nice friendly neighborhood, good schools in a few years, the nice walking, and easy access to grocery stores, etc. Thanks!

[scirocco22]

If you're planning on renting first, jenlion, I'd recommend staying in Redmond. There really isn't a "bad" part of town. My former house which sounds about what you are describing is renting for about $2,000/mo and is less than a mile from the main campus.

After renting for awhile, you will be more familiar with the area and will be able to pin down the neighborhoods and areas that you'd like to own property.

As for the possibility of your DH suffering from S.A.D., yes, it may be a problem. I moved after spending most of my life in the area because it was so difficult for me personally. However, there are ways to mitigate the lack of sun. We've talked about them in various threads here. And I'm not so sure that Boston will have that many more sunny days. More, yes, but a significant amount? ...from what I hear from friends in Boston, I'm not so sure.

[Botev1912]

Seattle gets 71 sunny days a year
Boston - 98

[allforcats]

Cloudy days here: Many of our cloudy days are cloudy for part of the day and SUNNY for the rest of the day, with big fat picturesque clouds floating by. So, cloudy days here are not necessarily dark and grey all day, every day.

Where near Microsoft: The company has several campuses, all fairly near each other, around Redmond. The main office (main campus) zip code for Microsoft is 98052. If you open Mapquest and just search for that zip code (no address needed), a map will open that contains, approximately in the center, the word "Microsoft". If you zoom in once, you'll see a pink-beige colored area of streets -- that's the MS main campus. So, you can Mapquest the addresses of the houses, condos or apartments you're thinking of, and you can see how near to or far from MS they are. Ain't technology swell? :-)

[Baldy]

Why would office workers care about the sun shining? I could see if you guys were in construction or solar powered, but MS workers worried about the sun? How often do you get to go outside, really?

As far as neighborhoods, MS workers are paid far more than the Washington average, so you could afford the very best. Much more than Boston, that has always been expensive.

Boston is nice, in an East Coast sort of way. If I ever got to move again, it would be there or Southern CT, near the NY/CT border. Great locales and very New England.

[sean98125]

Keep in mind that in the winter the hours of daylight are much shorter in Seattle than they are in Dallas. Today, for example, Dallas will get almost 1 1/2 hours more daylight than Seattle. It isn't just the clouds, there actually is less light here even on sunny days in the winter. (Summer days in Seattle have about an hour more daylight than Dallas, on the other hand)

But, since we are so far to the north, the sunlight that does manage to get through in winter is glorious - the sun is low enough in the sky that the light hits things at a lower angle and it brings out more detail and color. Late on some wintery days, things seem to glow with a golden light. It's beautiful.

[diggitydot]

I also second the Redmond recommendation. A good friend of ours used to work for MS and he and his family lived in Redmond and loved it.

[allforcats]

Yes to Redmond, of course. Bellevue too. I've lived 22 adult years in Bellevue, one block from Redmond and a half-mile from the Microsoft main campus.

Perhaps you'd like to know that the campus has a soccer field, badminton court, benches, walking trails and tennis court where staff are often having a great time during working hours. That would be OUT in the weather, of course, not hermetically sealed inside a building. Jenlion might also care to be out in the weather during the day. And of course offices and homes both have windows through which the weather is visible and emotionally influential.

Three cheers for Sean's wonderful description of the light here in winter! So surprising, even breathtaking, if you're from a more southern latitude.

None of us has yet talked about "walking trails". In Issaquah, Redmond and many places in Bellevue, as well as places farther east and north, there are protected greenbelts, large or small, and public parks. In other words, there are so many trees and bushes and grassy places and so many walking trails you could probably get lost for a month! Walking and jogging are almost civic responsibilities here :-) so there are thousands of places to do those activities.

You mentioned "stroller". There are lots of sidewalks in Bellevue and Redmond, fewer in Issaquah out of the main part of town on Front St. Walking trails might work better with a very little one if the child can walk or be carried on your back. That depends on the trails you choose -- some will be wide enough and flat enough for a stroller; some won't.

[allforcats]

HOUSING:

First, real estate: Remax.com is fine, but it doesn't show everything. For-sale info seems to be almost completely covered in this area by MLSonline -- the link is:
http://sea.themlsonline.com/home

There are also: realtor.com, condocompare.com, and homes.com (for King County). But none of those provides complete listings, which MLSonline seems to do.

Second: apartments, which as Scirocco22 wrote, is a great idea for 6 months or so, while you learn what you'd like. The best resource for that is the combined Classifieds for the two largest local newspapers. These Classifieds cover Seattle and pretty much all Redmond, Bellevue and Issaquah. The site is called NWSource.com. I selected for you down to the east side (where you'll want): the link as I've pasted it here has a break - don't put any breaks in it.
NWapartments: Seattle apartment rentals, house rental listings, rental classifieds and other property rentals in Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue and other Washington areas, cities and neighborhoods | - Advanced search

Any more questions? Don't hesitate to ask :-)

[cobolt]

Every time I go to Redmond, I am struck by how livable it seems---no really bad areas, things in close proximty to MS, etc. The people I know who live there love it.